Not as advertised - Part-Time Sales/Visual The Container Store Employee Review

2.0
Nov 25, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Container store does a fantastic job on hiring. You will love the people you work with. The pay is great for part-time retail work. Also with a 40% off employee discount, that is not to shabby. If you want to learn something new in the store, management is open to teach you.

Cons

There is basically no room for advancement. There will be 30 part time people all wanting just 6-8 full time spots. The full timers make 50% more than the part time and do the exact same work. The only difference is they have keys and open and close the store. I am also not sure how this place got best place to work in Fortune. I assume it is the corporate employees and managers as they are the only ones that really are taken care of. They will abuse you as a part time employee, making you feel guilty about not coming in when someone calls out then the next cutting your hours because they say sales are down. They never cut full timers hours even though we could do the exact same work at 50% less pay. "Too many cooks in the kitchen" is a problem. Many shifts will have half a dozens full timers and mangers and you will be the only PT person getting told what to do. Since they preach "Everyone is a leader," everyone fights for control. It is chaos. No one is really in charge. Mirco managing is also a huge issue. No creativity, or outside the box thinking. There are over 50 manuals on how to do everything in the store. So the job can be very boring but I guess that's typical retail. There is opportunity to move up if you really push for it but be prepared to drink the Kool-Aid. If you ever say anything that resemble reality or is not 100% positive you, will be verbally called out on it. This company is on the verge of borderline cult. But everyone is afraid to say it even though everyone knows it. The only reason people stay longer is because other retailers pay less. If they paid the same, this place would have zero employees. The most important thing in the store is to sell, sell, sell. Managers will even tell employees that they are losing money for the company if they feel you are not filling up customers carts enough. If you choose to work in the store level, you will notice it within 2 weeks.

Explore other reviews about The Container Store

5.0
Apr 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Their business, benefits and products are all incredible.

Cons

My position did not allow for a healthy work/life balance. I was never "off".

3.0
Jan 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The Container Store has the most thorough training process of any company I've worked for. The environment was nice, and my coworkers and managers were all great. The employee discount is significant.

Cons

I applied because I was not getting the hours I was promised by my other part-time retail job. During the hiring process, they said I could work as many hours as I wanted, up to 29 hours per week. They did not mention until I was hired and asking for my hours that hours are dependent on how many customers you get to sign up for the rewards program. As a cashier, everyone I checked out who was not a part of the rewards program and did not want to be counted against me. Customers who are already a part of it don't factor in. I could check out 40 people in a shift, only have 5 who weren't part of the program, and only get 2 of them to sign up, and I would be penalized for that with my hours. If you work floor shifts and sign people up on the floor, it's able to boost your score since you don't interact with non-rewards members who don't want to join the system at all, but I was never offered floor shifts. They expected a 60-70% conversion rate, which is not realistic. Most people who want to be part of the program already are, and those who aren't typically aren't willing to even hear your 20-second pitch about it.

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